Rear spoilers serve to improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle and can reduce fuel consumption accordingly. They are mounted in the rear area of the vehicle and generally have air guide elements which extend the contours of the vehicle towards the rear, e.g. with curved surfaces. Such rear spoilers can be fixed to the roof or to the side walls.
German Utility Models DE 20 2009 014 476 U1, DE 20 2009 014 510 U1, and DE 20 2009 015 009 U1 disclose rear spoiler configurations in which the air guide elements or spoiler elements are arranged movably or pivotably in order to allow unhindered opening of the door.
Pivotable or foldable rear spoilers are generally attached to the hinges of the rear door. DE 102 28 658 A1 discloses various folding solutions in which flat faces in the driving area, pivotable via a hinge, achieve an aerodynamic optimization.
DE 10 2008 036 888 A1 shows configurations of rear spoilers and connections to the vehicle, in which it is provided amongst others to mount a carrier between the rear door and the air guide element which can be moved aside for positioning the door in the largely open position. When the tailgate is swung out about its vertical pivot axis, the air guide element is thus initially pivoted with this until it reaches the outer faces of the side wall. On further opening of the tailgate, the flexible carrier element is compressed accordingly.
Such attachments of the air guide elements in the hinge region generally allow a relocation of the air guide element between the rear door and side wall when the rear door is pivoted outward through 270°, as is often the case in trucks, in order to be attached for example to the side wall.
Such systems are however generally very complex. They comprise amongst others complex pivot or hinge designs. Furthermore some rear spoiler systems only allow the use of relatively short air guide elements, whereby the improvement to the aerodynamics is limited.
Furthermore when the rear doors are pivoted, the construction space available in the hinge region of the rear door is very constricted, so more complex rear spoiler configurations may impinge on the 270° opening process.